The silence inside the dark library was completely suffocating.
The heavy leather ledger Kaelan had helped me with was still held high above us, forgotten, as Kaelen’s captivating golden eyes stared deep into mine with a dark, burning intensity.
My hands were exploring his hard and warm abs up to his chest, making him feel tingles all over until they rested right over his heart.
Beneath my bare palm, I could feel his heart beating violently.
The neat, disciplined guard energy was completely gone, replaced by raw, breathless shock.
“Are you going to answer me, Sir Kaelen?” I shamelessly purred, my voice dropping into a low whisper as I stared at his sumptuous-looking lips that I couldn’t wait to kiss.
I slid my hand up until they slightly brushed his neck.
“Are you worried about the enemies outside, or are you worried about your queen standing in front of you?”
“Your Majesty–”
“Evangeline, call me Evangeline, just like you did before.
I love the sound of my name when you say it.”
He seemed to not remember that he actually slipped and called me by my name earlier and I also didn’t say anything because I actually liked that.
“I can’t do that, it’s against the rules of the Kingdom,” Kaelan breathlessly whispered, as if trying to convince himself, but I could see his resolve crumbling.
“The rules,” I echoed, the word tasting like ash.
I stepped closer, my silk gown whispering against the stone floor, until the tips of my slippers brushed his boots.
“The same rules that say you must die for a crown you aren’t allowed to love?
Tell me, Kaelen, when you stand outside my bedchamber every night, do you think of the protocols?
Or do you think of the way I looked at you during the solstice ball?”
His jaw tightened so hard I heard the faint grind of his teeth.
“I think of my oath, Your Majesty.
My life is a shield.
Nothing more.”
“Liars aren’t allowed in my guard,” I countered, my voice a sharp, sweet blade.
I reached out, my fingers tracing the silver embroidery on his shoulder.
“Your oath is a cage you built for yourself.
I see the way your pulse jumps when I walk into a room.
I feel the heat of your gaze on my back.
Is it duty that makes your breath hitch right now?
Or is it the crushing weight of everything you’re pretending not to feel?”
“You are testing a man who has already given everything to your bloodline,” he rasped, his voice cracking just enough to show the raw nerves beneath.
“Do not ask me to find what I have spent a decade burying.”
“Then let it stay buried,” I whispered, leaning in until my forehead nearly touched his.
“But don’t tell me the rules matter when your heart is screaming louder than your honor.”
“I don’t care about the rules.
I run this Kingdom.
I just dismantled the entire royal council this afternoon.
Do you really think a few old guard protocols are going to scare me?
Besides, you could easily move past me right now, but you haven’t.
“Because you are blocking my way,” he hissed, his golden eyes darkening into a dangerous shade of amber.
Kaelen’s breathing was getting shallow, his knuckles turning white from gripping the ledger so tight.
“Am I?” I challenged him softly, my eyes locking onto his lips again.
“You are twice my size, Kaelen.
If you truly wanted to push me away and return to your post, you could have done that three minutes ago.
But you’re still here.
Your heart is racing, your hands are shaking, and you’re looking at me with those eyes… like you want me.”
That was the final straw.
The subtle taunts, the weeks of heavy physical tension, and the raw frustration of trying to remain a perfect, emotionless protector completely snapped.
The library, with its towering shelves and suffocating shadows, suddenly felt less like a sanctuary and more like a cage, drawing the walls in until there was nowhere left to look but at each other.
The air was thick and electric, heavy with the scent of his armor oil—sharp and metallic—underneath the grounding, earthy aroma of mountain pine that seemed to cling to his very skin.
He was radiating a heat so intense it felt like standing too close to a forge, a physical force that made the fine hairs on my arms stand up.
His control didn’t just break; it exploded.
THUD.
The heavy ledger slipped from his hand, crashing to the rug below, but neither of us cared.
Before I could even speak, Kaelan’s large hands shot out to grab both of my wrists, pinning them against the shelf above my head.
My breath caught in my throat as his massive body slammed even harder against mine, completely crushing me against the shelf.
My heart was beating really fast, and I could feel his hot breath on my lips… oh, how I love this.
“You want to play games, Evangeline?” Kaelen growled, his voice a lethal, breathless murmur right against my lips.
His golden eyes were blazing with a terrifying, fierce possessiveness that made my blood run hot.
“You want to see what will happen when I stop acting like your loyal hound?
Fine.”
Before a single word could leave my mouth, he captured my lips in an aggressively forceful kiss.
It was not a gentle, romantic embrace.
Kaelan kissed me as if he was angry that I had so much power over him, his lips pressing down with rough, hungry intensity that completely stole the air from my lungs and made me melt.
I let out a soft, muffled moan against his lips as he moved his grasp from my wrists and gripped my waist tightly with both hands, bringing me even closer to him so that I could feel his heartbeat against my chest.
My hands moved from his chest to the back of his neck as I pulled him even closer to deepen the kiss.
He was fighting against his own desires even as he consumed me, his movements rough and filled with a toxic mix of intense passion.
The taste of him was intoxicating, completely flooding my senses and wiping away every single thought in my brain.
Kaelen suddenly pulled his lips slightly back.
We were both breathing heavily at this point.
“Tell me to stop, Your Majesty.
Order me to leave.
Because if I don’t… I am never going to let you go,” he said, teasing my lips with his fingers, staring deep into my eyes.
“I do not give orders I don’t want followed, Kaelan.
Kiss me.”
He didn’t wait for another breath, devouring my mouth again with a feral, shattering intensity that eclipsed the first.
All remnants of the stoic guard vanished as he claimed me with a raw, desperate possessiveness, his hands tightening on my waist as if he intended to fuse our very souls together in the heat of his total surrender.
For a heartbeat that felt like an eternity, the world outside those library doors ceased to exist.
We stayed like that, fused together, our foreheads resting against each other as we shared a singular, ragged breath.
His golden eyes, usually so guarded and sharp, were wide and glassy with a look of total, devastating surrender.
In that moment, the Queen and the Guard were gone; there was only the crushing weight of a mutual realization that we had crossed a point of no return.
The silence was heavy with the unspoken promise of a thousand more touches, a lingering, breathless pause that tasted of victory and ruin all at once.
In one fluid, powerful motion, Kaelan hooked his hands beneath my thighs and hoisted me up, his muscles straining against the fine fabric of his uniform as he hiked me higher.
I let out a sharp, breathless gasp of surprise that was immediately swallowed by his mouth, my legs instinctively locking around his narrow waist to anchor myself to his heat.
He slammed me back against the sturdy oak of the bookshelf, the wood groaning under our combined weight, while his large palms slid up to cup my face with a terrifyingly beautiful desperation.
I arched into him, my fingers tangling deep into the dark hair at the nape of his neck, pressing my chest against his as if I could never be close enough.
The air between us was thick with the scent of old parchment and raw, unchecked lightning, a storm of high-stakes tension that threatened to set the entire library ablaze.
Then, just as suddenly as he had snapped, Kaelen tore his mouth away.
He let go of me as if my skin had suddenly turned into burning iron.
He stumbled back three large steps, his heavy boots tracking loudly against the floor as he tore himself out of my personal space.
Kaelan was breathing remnants of breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently up and down as he stared at me.
His handsome face was flushed, his lips were darkened, and his golden eyes were wide with a sudden, overwhelming look of horror.
He looked down at his own leather gloves, then looked back at me, completely terrified of what he had just done.
He had crossed the ultimate line.
He had laid hands on the sovereign Queen of the realm.
“Your Majesty…
Evangeline…
I…” Kaelen stammered, his rough voice shaking with an intense mix of guilt, panic, and self-hatred.
I remained leaning against the wooden bookshelf, my hair slightly messy and my breathing just as ragged as his.
I slowly lifted a finger, tracing my swollen, stinging lips, and let a slow, victorious smirk spread across my face.
I was completely unbothered by his panic, looking at him like a CEO who had just successfully forced a difficult business partner to sign a contract.
“Goodnight, Sir Kaelen,” I murmured, my voice smooth and dripping with shameless satisfaction.
Kaelen couldn’t take it.
The guilt and panic were too much for his disciplined mind to handle.
Without saying another word, he turned on his heel and sprinted out of the royal library, the heavy arched doors slamming shut behind his massive silhouette.
I stood alone in the quiet aisle, the silver moonlight still pouring through the windows.
The adrenaline was slowly leaving my body, leaving me with a deep, lingering warmth.
“Well, his control is officially broken,” I whispered to myself, a small laugh leaving my lips.
I shook my head, calming my racing heart, and looked down at the floor to pick up the heavy registry ledger Kaelan had dropped when he snapped.
But as I bent down, my hand didn’t touch the leather book.
During his frantic, panic-stricken rush to escape, Kaelen’s heavy dagger sheath had scraped against the low shelf, causing a small, metallic object to slip out of his hidden pocket.
I reached down and picked it up.
It was a small, cold iron coin.
But it wasn’t royal currency.
Engraved deeply into the dark metal was a strange, terrifying symbol—a broken crown dripping with three drops of blood.
It was the exact secret crest of the violent rebel faction that had tried to overthrow my father’s court last year.
My breath completely caught in my throat, the victorious smirk instantly vanishing from my face as the cold iron dug into my palm.